High-Value Care: Patient Scenarios Teach Doctors

January 6, 2014

As the largest medical specialty organization in the US, the American College of Physicians (ACP) is focused on providing resources to internists, internal medicine subspecialists, medical students, residents, and fellows. In 2010 the ACP launched the High Value Care initiative in response to growing evidence that the misuse and overuse of certain tests and treatments were causing harm to patients and increasing costs.

Under the High Value Care initiative, ACP has developed curriculum to teach residents and fellows to be better stewards of limited health care dollars. On January 1, 2014, the ACP released a series of clinical cases built on real patients, their medical bills, and outcomes. The five web-based, interactive cases cover common clinical topics to teach practicing physicians how to:

Avoid unnecessary testing

Use emergency and hospital care judiciously

Improve patient outcomes with health promotion and disease prevention

Prescribe medications safely and cost-effectively

Overcome barriers to high-value care

The cases, funded in part by CHCF, are available online at no cost. Physicians who review the cases, answer the associated multiple-choice questions, and read through the critiques may earn free Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Maintenance of Certification (MOC) medical knowledge points.

To access the cases visit the ACP website through the External Link below.